Harvey And Bob Weinstein Are Being Sued For Allegedly Breaking A Federal Sex Trafficking Law

Despite hiding out in a metaphorical gopher hole (no disrespect to gophers), Harvey Weinstein continues to make the news for gross reasons. The latest is another lawsuit. What are we up to now, one hundred? It should be one hundred. According to this lawsuit, Harvey and his brother Bob Weinstein might have broken a sex trafficking law.

TMZ says that a 31-year-old British actress named Kadian Noble recently filed a lawsuit in New York against Harvey and Bob. Kadian claims she met Harvey in London back in 2013 and he offered to help her with her career. So she met up with him three months later in February 2014, in Cannes. Harvey invited her to his hotel and you know exactly where this is going.

Kadian alleges that when she arrived, Harvey began massaging her shoulders. Then he allegedly asked her to walk around the room for him, for “audition purposes.” Kadian alleges Harvey then called a producer at The Weinstein Company, who spoke to Kadian and allegedly told her to be a “good girl” and do what Harvey wanted.

According to Kadian’s lawsuit, what Harvey wanted was to grope her breasts and force her into his hotel room’s bathroom. Kadian, who claims she clearly told him “no,” accuses Harvey of forcing her to masturbate him while he held her down. Kadian claims it felt like it took “forever,” and that when she fought back, he told her that “everything would be taken care of” for her if she just relaxed. Kadian says her encounter with Harvey took place in front of a mirror, thus proving that the only thing grosser than one Harvey is two.

Kadian alleges Bob facilitated Harvey’s meetings abroad, meetings she claims were for the sole purpose of “enticing or recruiting” young women into situations of sexual coercion. Kadian also names The Weinstein Company in her lawsuit, claiming they were well aware of Harvey’s alleged reputation and activities. According to Kadian, women who traded sexual favors for roles with Harvey were known as “FOH” or “Friends of Harvey” around TWC, and that any FOH was known to be given special treatment.

As for the lawsuit’s claim of sex trafficking, Kadian’s lawyer argues that Harvey engaged in sex trafficking by traveling from the U.S. to London and France to recruit women for non-consensual sex acts using the lure of false promises of stardom. A rep for Harvey tells TMZ he denies everything:

“Mr. Weinstein denies allegations of non-consensual sex. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”

The statute of limitations on sex trafficking is ten years. TMZ points out that if Kadian’s lawsuit is taken seriously, it could open the floodgates for many more similar lawsuits that might not have been filed due to a shorter statute of limitations. Kadian is seeking a jury trial and an unspecified amount of damages.

Kadian and her lawyer Jeff Herman held a press conference today in New York regarding her lawsuit. She had the following message for Harvey:

“You’ve used the power, the gift that you have, you’ve turned it into such a corruption to take advantage of other people and to make promises to bring people’s dreams to a reality. It’s just not fair because you have no idea the impact you have on people’s everyday lives.”

That’s a far classier message than I was expecting. Maybe it’s because it’s being delivered with a British accent. Or maybe it was edited for time. I’m sure if Kadian had a few extra minutes, she would have loved to stare directly into the camera and British-hissed, “I certainly hope you’re roasting your balls off in Arizona, you repulsive swine.”